# Songs With Factual Inaccuracies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650 "2012-08-25T22:46:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/41 "2012-08-26T11:28:33Z")
_The Ballad of Billy the Kid_, by Billy Joel: every last word in it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/42 "2012-08-26T11:36:24Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > That would be rather impressive, since potatoes originated in the Americas and weren’t known to the rest of Europe until the 17th century. And it’s certainly possible to make vodka that is as pure as the original, it just wouldn’t be very good by current standards. I knew that, I swear it. 🙂 The point stands that potato vodka (which was pretty popular once upon a time post-Columbus) is considerably more oily and impure than grain spirit vodka, and that ancient vodka would have been pretty impalatable by modern tastes. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/43 "2012-08-26T12:06:22Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > The Battle of New Orleans: _“In 1814 we took a little trip…”_ > – But the Battle of New Orleans (the climactic battle) was in 1815. Well, the battle was on January 8, 1815, but Jackson and his men took their trip to New Orleans in 1814. However, they did not actually powder the bottoms of alligators and use them as cannon. 😉 My error-filled song in _ **The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia** _: Georgia’s execution method is the electric chair, not hanging. If they “hung” (you mean _hanged_) your brother, why did the lights go out? If the “Georgia Patrol” (I assume you mean the State Patrol) was flagged down by your brother’s shot, how did it happen that a “big-bellied sheriff” grabbed his gun. The State Patrol is state law enforcement, while the sheriff is local law enforcement. They’re not going to be patrolling together. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/44 "2012-08-26T12:08:58Z")
Bob Dylan’s songs are full of factual errors. I’ll give just a few examples. [QUOTE=115th Dream] Well, the last I heard of Ahab He was stuck on a whale That was married to the deputy Sheriff of the jail But the funniest thing was When I was leavin’ the bay I saw three ships a-sailin’ They were all heading my way I asked the captain what his name was And how come he didn’t drive a truck He said his name was Columbus I just said, “Good luck” [/QUOTE] People were not allowed to marry cetaceans even in pre-Puritan America. [QUOTE=Gates of Eden] Of war and peace the truth just twists Its curfew gull just glides Upon four-legged forest clouds The cowboy angel rides With his candle lit into the sun Though its glow is waxed in black All except when ’neath the trees of Eden [/QUOTE] Have you ever tried to keep a candle lit while riding a horse? Let alone a cloud? [QUOTE=Highway 61 Revisited] Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son” Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on” God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?” God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but The next time you see me comin’ you better run” Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?” God says, “Out on Highway 61” [/QUOTE] Highway 61 roughly follows the Mississippi River, going nowhere near Mount Moriah. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/45 "2012-08-26T12:43:51Z")
In _Piano Man_, by Christie Brinkley’s ex: > [@](#): > > making love to his tonic and gin It’s a Gin and Tonic, dude! ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/46 "2012-08-26T12:53:15Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > _The Ballad of Billy the Kid_, by Billy Joel: every last word in it. Most versions of “The Ballad of Casey Jones” manage to get a few things right. There was a guy named Casey Jones, and a train, and it crashed and he died. Johnny Cash’s version is one of the more accurate popular recordings, but it gets the location wrong - New Orleans, not “Frisco”. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/47 "2012-08-26T13:08:10Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > Most versions of “The Ballad of Casey Jones” manage to get a few things right. There was a guy named Casey Jones, and a train, and it crashed and he died. > > Johnny Cash’s version is one of the more accurate popular recordings, but it gets the location wrong - New Orleans, not “Frisco”. Okay, now I went and listened to the song, and it appears I have spoken wrongly of the Man in Black :o His version has the train pulling out of Memphis and crashing in northern Mississippi, which is correct. He still sings about a “six-eight wheeler”, though, whatever **that** was 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/48 "2012-08-26T15:41:36Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > Gordon Lightfoot in “If You Could Read My Mind”… mentions an “old time movie, about a ghost from a wishing well”. (meaning something sad and gloomy) > [@Small\_Hen](#): > > _Think I’ll spend eternity in the city > Let the carbon and monoxide choke my thoughts away_. I know we’re just having fun here, but I’ll pick on these two examples to make my point. Lyricists, like poets and visual artists, are \*allowed \*to twist phrases, bend words, create different perspectives. It’s what they do. It makes the work more interesting. We are talking about a creative work, not a peer-reviewed scientific study. I happen to like both of the above examples. “Ghost from a wishing well” invokes a creepy atmosphere that suits the song (and GL’s voice) very nicely; the alliteration of ‘wishing well’ is perfectly placed. I am a little less in love with “carbon and monoxide”, but I consider it a clever and unexpected twist on what a more boring lyricist might compose. We all know he means carbon monoxide; saying carbon _and_ monoxide makes it fresh. Your mileage may deviate. see what I did there? mmm ETA: All that said, “South Detroit” _really_ rubs me the wrong way, so I’m not entirely unaffected. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/49 "2012-08-26T16:20:27Z")
I’ve never seen the Sun set in the east, but I have, on two occasions, seen sunsets in the east. The cloud conditions were just right that the _entire sky_ was that orange-on-purple color. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/50 "2012-08-26T16:45:44Z")
[Tom Petty:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_fallin%27) _It’s a long day, living in Reseda There’s a freeway runnin’ through the yard_ There is no freeway in Reseda. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/51 "2012-08-26T16:57:05Z")
If the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, what happens can’t really be called _amore_. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/52 "2012-08-26T17:02:38Z")
If a guy _really_ leaves his heart in San Francisco, then he ain’t gonna be in any conditon to be singing much about it. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/53 "2012-08-26T17:07:44Z")
Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road: He only came to town about twice a year He’d buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line No, he’d come into town for a humdred pounds of sugar maybe, but not yeast. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/54 "2012-08-26T17:21:43Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > Okay, now I went and listened to the song, and it appears I have spoken wrongly of the Man in Black :o His version has the train pulling out of Memphis and crashing in northern Mississippi, which is correct. > > He still sings about a “six-eight wheeler”, though, whatever **that** was 😛 Steam locomotives are classified by x-y-z: The number of wheels in front, the number of driven wheels, and the number of wheels in the back. > **[Whyte notation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whyte_notation)** > > The Whyte notation is a classification method for steam locomotives, and some internal combustion locomotives and electric locomotives, by wheel arrangement. It was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte, and came into use in the early twentieth century following a December 1900 editorial in American Engineer and Railroad Journal. > The notation was adopted and remains in use in North America and the United Kingdom to describe the wheel arrangements of steam locomotives, but for modern locomotives, ... There was one 6-8-6 built (no other 6-8-Xs) but too late for Mr Jones. Brian ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/55 "2012-08-26T18:05:20Z")
Why’s South Detroit wrong? Is that saying like East Philadelphia (there is no East Philadelphia, unless you’re cracking a joke about New Jersey)? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/56 "2012-08-26T18:06:20Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > If a guy _really_ leaves his heart in San Francisco, then he ain’t gonna be in any conditon to be singing much about it. Barney Clark could’ve.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/57 "2012-08-26T18:18:01Z")
(I’ve probably mentioned this before on the SDMB, but oh well…) Stevie Wonder’s song “Rocket Love” contains a reference to “symphonies by Bach or Brahms.” Johann Sebastian Bach did not write any symphonies; the symphony as we know it had not been invented in his day. In Mr. Wonder’s defense, he might have been referring to P.D.Q. Bach, or one of Bach’s other composer sons. And, besides Brahms, there just aren’t that many prominent symphonists with one-syllable names that would fit the meter of the song. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/58 "2012-08-26T18:25:51Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > Why’s South Detroit wrong? Is that saying like East Philadelphia (there is no East Philadelphia, unless you’re cracking a joke about New Jersey)? Reminds me of when the writer of “The Night Chicago Died” was criticized for penning the line “East Side of Chicago”. He responded “they claim there is no East Side of Chicago. There’s an east side of everything!” ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/59 "2012-08-26T18:39:14Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > It’s called a metaphor, dear. Songwriters use them a lot. Thank you, Professor Obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/60 "2012-08-26T18:39:54Z")
No mention of Vanessa Williams’ _Saved the Best for Last_? > [@](#): > > Sometimes the sun goes 'round the moon Not in any thing I’ve ever read. Concerning Billy Joel and \* The Ballad of Billy the Kid\*, he admitted in the liner notes of _Songs In the Attic_ that it was totally historically inaccurate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650.md?page=4)